OTTAWA – Thursday night Ottawa Glandorf moved to 3-0 in Western Buckeye League play as they hit for a season high nine three pointers to defeat Elida 68-26.
Mired in a two-game losing streak that saw the blue and gold connect on just 1 of 11 on Tuesday night, the Titans outside game on this night was white hot as five players connected from behind the arc.
Early in the first period the visiting Bulldogs jumped ahead first at 2-0 on a make by Addisyn Freeman make but quickly found themselves behind thanks to a five point run by Ottawa Glandorf senior Maggie Verhoff to give her squad a lead they would never relinquish.
Freeman connected on the only three of the evening for Elida late in the first quarter to get within 10-7 heading into the second period of play as part of her game high 16 points.
While utilizing their pressure based defense to hold the Bulldogs scoreless for a nearly three minute span between makes by Freeman the Titans continued to push their lead higher and higher on makes by Katie Kaufman and Karsyn Erford in the paint, a triple from Kaitlyn Kimmet, and a quartet of free throws from Chloee Glenn to a 25-11 halftime advantage.
OG continued to run and gun to the hoop on the inside while knocking down shots from the outside in the third quarter as part of a 23-9 run. Three pointers from Kimmet and the first of the season from Glenn ran the lead to 37-16 with 3:28 to go before the buzzer but a final heave from Kaelyn Grothause at the buzzer put the Titans in front 48-20.
Over the final eight minutes of play Ottawa Glandorf’s Karsyn Erford set the running clock in motion with 5:32 remaining with the last of her team high 13 markers and a lead of 56-20. Kaitlyn Kimmet and Emma Brinkman combined to knock down a quartet of three point goals in the final handful of minutes to secure the Titans 15th straight victory over Elida.
Elida (2-5, 1-2) will return to action on Tuesday evening as they travel to Columbus Grove for a non-league tilt against the Bulldogs.
Ottawa Glandorf (5-2, 3-0) was paced by Erford’s 13 points and Kimmet’s 11 and will next welcome in Bethel for a Monday night non-conference affair for their next outing.
“I thought we started slow and I wasn’t real happy with the way we played in the first half but we came out and got the ball into the post and started hitting 3’s. We’re still struggling and learning to play with each other and it probably doesn’t help that we are playing 9-10 players and mixing up lineups, but just experimenting to see what works early in the season. Kaitlyn Kimmet played a good game as well as Karsyn Erford. Chloee Glenn looked like she felt a bit more comfortable tonight as well” said Titan boss Troy Yant.
Scoring:
OG (68):
Karsyn Erford 13
Maggie Verhoff 7
Kaelyn Grothause 7
Emma Brinkman 9
Myka Aldrich 4
Kaitlyn Kimmet 11
Katie Kaufman 8
Chloee Glenn 9
FT: 7/9
3PT: 9 (E. Brinkman 3, Kimmet 3, Grothause, Verhoff, Glenn)
TO: 16
Elida (26):
Bella Lopez 4
Addisyn Freeman 16
Jojo Knight 2
Alexis Ward 4
FT: 5/11
3PT: 1 (Freeman)
TO: 19
JV: OG 54-18